Press Release No. 17/49

Jamaica Implements the International Monetary Fund's Enhanced General Data Dissemination System

February 15, 2017

Jamaica has implemented the recommendations of the Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e‑GDDS)—endorsed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board in May 2015—by publishing critical data through a National Summary Data Page (NSDP). The page serves as a one-stop publication vehicle for essential macroeconomic data—in both human and machine‑readable formats. This makes Jamaica the first Caribbean country to implement the recommendations of the e‐GDDS, putting it on a steady path towards subscription to the Special Data Dissemination Standard. 

The NSDP is posted on the websites of the Bank of Jamaica, the Ministry of Finance & the Public Service, and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, utilizing the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX). A link to Jamaica’s NSDP is available on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board at: http://dsbb.imf.org/Pages/GDDS/CtyCtgList.aspx?ctycode=JAM 

Publication of essential macroeconomic data through the NSDP will provide national policy makers and a broad range of domestic and international stakeholders, including investors and rating agencies, with easy access to information that the IMF’s Executive Board has identified as critical for monitoring economic conditions and policies. Making this information simultaneously available to all users will bring greater data transparency. 

Louis Marc Ducharme, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department, welcomed this major milestone in the country’s statistical development. “I am confident that Jamaica will benefit from using the e-GDDS as a framework for further development of its statistical system.” 

The authorities are pleased that Jamaica is among the first group of countries worldwide to implement the e-GDDS recommendations. 

Background

The e-GDDS was established by the IMF’s Executive Board in May 2015 to support improved data transparency, encourage statistical development, and help create synergies between data dissemination and surveillance. The e-GDDS supersedes the GDDS, which was established in 1997. 

Watch this short video that gives a broad overview of the benefits of the e-GDDS.